Notley slams Quebec's ban on covered faces

Premier Rachel Notley had harsh words Friday for Quebec legislation that takes aim at Muslim women who cover their faces for religious reasons.

Bill62, which was adopted in the Quebec legislature Wednesday, bans people with their faces covered from providing or receiving public services in the province and is widely seen as an attack on Muslim women who wear the niqab.

It also prohibits people from taking public transit if their face is covered.

“The passage of that bill is a sad day for Canada,” Notley told reporters.

“I think it is damaging for marginalized women and it’s very unfortunate. I don’t think it holds together logically. I think it smacks of Islamophobia.

Notley said she couldn’t say absolutely whether the legislation was constitutional, but she expects it will have a hard time standing up to a court challenge under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

“I suspect it doesn’t meet the values the charter is intending to promote throughout the country,” said the NDP premier.

Politicians including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne have expressed concern over Bill 62. But Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard has defended the law by saying it is necessary for reasons related to communication, identification and security.

Notley made the comments at the Fairmont Palliser after receiving an award from Equal Voice, a group that promotes the participation of women in politics.

United Conservative Party MLA Leela Aheer, who was in attendance at the awards luncheon, said she agrees with Notley on the Quebec legislation.

“It’s ridiculous,” said the Chestermere-Rocky View MLA.

“It goes against everything that I believe to be the freedoms of our country. Freedom’s a slippery slope. You don’t just take one.”

Both Notley and Aheer said that if some Muslim women are being forced to wear the niqab against their will, there are better ways to help them than to cut them off from public services.

In her speech accepting the National EVE Award from Equal Voice, Notley said the government recognizes that despite the strides made by women over the years, there is still “pervasive and deeply rooted” discrimination against women.

“We know women face inequalities in all facets of life,” she said.

Notley said her NDP government has tried to address that at all levels, from moving to create new affordable child care spaces to working with the Alberta Securities Commission to increase the number of women on corporate boards.

The National EVE Award is given annually to a woman who has achieved significant success in her political career.

Notley became Alberta’s second female premier in 2015 when her NDP upended the four-decade-old Progressive Conservative government. The NDP caucus is almost evenly split among men and women, and Notley appointed Canada’s first gender-balanced cabinet in a majority government.

Speaking at the luncheon, Kim Campbell, Canada’s first — and so far only — female prime minister, praised Notley and expressed concern about the misogyny faced by women politicians on social media.

“We have to understand that anytime we make gains, other things can happen the other way,” she said.

“If we want to encourage women in our country to stand for public life, we have to stand for them.”

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